Carencro Bob Lilly Elementary School has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries Grant, a national honor that supports school libraries in providing students with high-quality, diverse, and up-to-date reading materials.
The award was announced as part of the Engage at the Bush Center speaker series, where Mrs. Laura Bush’s 2025 Summer Reading List was unveiled. As part of the honor, the school will receive a curated collection of new books featured on the list—offering engaging titles for readers from early elementary through middle school. These donated books aim to foster a love of reading and provide students with enriching summer literacy opportunities.
“We’re incredibly grateful for this grant, which will have a lasting impact on our students,” said Kelsye Baudoin, school librarian at Carencro Bob Lilly Elementary. “Our library collection was long overdue for an update. Thanks to the Laura Bush Foundation and other generous supporters, we are making real progress toward giving our students the books they deserve.”
The Laura Bush Foundation grant is one of several major funding successes for the school library this year. The library has also been awarded a $2,000 grant from the Walmart Spark Good Foundation, bringing the total in library-specific grant funding to $7,000 for the 2024–2025 school year. With additional support from Lafayette Parish School System funds and proceeds from the school’s book fair, more than $12,000 in new books have been added to the library’s shelves this year.
While this funding marks a significant step forward, Baudoin emphasized there is still work to be done: “We’re continuing to seek support to modernize our full collection and offer students access to award-winning literature.” The school currently has a DonorsChoose project open to fund books from the Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award list, which will support summer reading initiatives and an anticipated Battle of the Books Tournament in the 2025–2026 school year.
To contribute to the DonorsChoose campaign, visit:
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/battle-of-the-books-2025-2026/9096406/
For more information about the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries, visit: www.laurabushfoundation.org
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